Girls basketball notes: Lisle title highlights St. Edward’s strong first half; Batavia enjoys successful Florida trip
Few area girls basketball teams enjoyed the holiday break more than St. Edward.
Led by tournament Most Valuable Player Savannah Lynch, the Green Wave captured the Lisle Holiday Cage Classic with an unblemished 4-0 mark, capped by their 39-32 title triumph over West Chicago (15-3) last week.
St. Edward (12-5) opened the tourney with a 55-16 victory over Rosary before defeating Westmont 64-32 in the quarterfinals, and earned a trip to the championship game with its 55-43 semifinal triumph over Resurrection.
“The Lisle tournament continued to show us how versatile our team is,” said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson. “Having a deep bench, we can rely on all our players positively contributing on the court.
“We pride ourselves on our unselfish mentality putting the team first. The effort on the court from all our players has been outstanding.”
None more so than Lynch, who put her all-around talent on display throughout the tournament.
The 5-foot-10 sophomore forward led the Green Wave with a 19.7-point average for 4 games, while also adding 9.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and a pair of steals per contest.
Lynch tallied a team-high 11 points in her team’s title win over West Chicago.
Senior guard Elizabeth Leadley and sophomore guard/forward Layne Dawson added 9 points apiece against the Wildcats, who were paced by all-tourney pick Jasmyn Trigueros.
“We didn’t have any other players named to the all-tournament team but several other role players helped with our team’s success,” Dawson said of a group that includes seniors Amelia Davis, Madeline Sasis, Leadley, junior Jordin Sauls, and Layne Dawson.
“The keys have been hard work and a commitment to learn from our mistakes in order to continue to improve.”
St. Edward began the 2025 portion of its season with a 74-62 double-overtime loss to Resurrection Saturday despite Lynch’s 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 steals. Dawson recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards.
Heading into this week’s games against Westmont and Aurora Christian, the Green Wave stand atop the Chicagoland Christian Conference standings with a 3-0 mark — tied with Bishop McNamara.
Their first meeting against Bishop McNamara will come on Jan. 25 in Elgin.
North Stars take third: St. Charles North entered the Dundee-Crown Komaromy Classic coming off a tough 52-46 homecourt loss to St. Charles East.
The North Stars (14-3) shook off that disappointment, recording a best-ever, third-place finish at Dundee-Crown, capped by their 45-39 victory over Stevenson last week.
“Losing a few tough conference games against physical opponents (Batavia, SCE) before break was a learning experience for us,” said North coach Mike Tomczak. “As a team, we were able to identify a few areas we needed to improve if we wanted success in the second half of the season.
“In that respect, I thought those losses were invaluable. They motivated our kids to make some changes, and they did that throughout the tournament, specifically in rebounding.”
Junior guard Sydney Johnson scored a team-high 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while 6-2 sophomore forward Bronwyn How added 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks against Stevenson.
Johnson, who added 20 points with six 3-pointers against Fenwick in the quarterfinals (56-35 win), and How were all-tournament selections.
“Sydney and Bronwyn have been such huge pieces of our success,” said Tomczak. “Both are excellent two-way players but affect the game in very different ways. Sydney’s outside shooting has been excellent and her ability to take the ball to the basket has carried us offensively at times. Bronwyn continues to grow each game, especially on the offensive end. Her interior presence changes our entire offensive approach.”
Tomczak hopes his team uses the strong tourney finish as a springboard to the second half.
“Every year, the field (at D-C) is loaded, and for us to compete against competition like that, only makes us better,” he said. “We learned a lot about what we could do and who we could be.”
Batavia returns from Sunshine State: Batavia (12-4), which placed fifth at the Loyola Christmas Tournament, split a pair of games during last weekend’s annual Florida trip, highlighted by its 61-56 victory over Florida’s fifth-ranked Doral Academy.
Hallie Crane paced the Bulldogs with a career-high 30 points (5 of 7 from 3-point range) and 5 steals, while Kaidyn King added 11 points and 3 rebounds.
The Bulldogs began the weekend with a 56-47 overtime loss to 18th-ranked Westminster Academy despite 17 points and 8 rebounds from Crane, and 12 points from Natalie Warner.
“Hallie led us with two amazing performances,” said Batavia coach Kevin Jensen.
Batavia finished the Loyola tourney with a 62-60 double-overtime win over Carmel behind Crane (18 points), Samantha Jansey (14 points), and King (11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists).
Senior point guard Julia Arulandu earned all-tournament second team accolades at Loyola.
Batavia visits St. Charles East (12-4) Wednesday in a battle of 4-0 DuKane Conference teams.
Thulin shines for Trojans: Downers Grove North (11-5, 2-2) headed into this week’s clash with West Suburban Silver leader Glenbard West (11-4, 4-0) off a solid fourth-place effort at the Wheaton North Bill Neibch Holiday Tournament.
Sophomore guard Campbell Thulin earned all-tournament honors, as the Trojans went 2-2 at Wheaton North.
Thulin, who opened the tourney with 31 points, including six 3-pointers, and 9 rebounds against Elgin, added 17 points and 6 boards in a 33-21 quarterfinal win over Palatine. She finished with a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds in the Trojans’ 44-34 third-place loss to Glenbrook South.
Downers North also dropped a 30-21 semifinal decision to runner-up Glenbard South, as Thulin had 8 points and 9 rebounds, while Abby Gross added 7 points. Juniors Adysen Fanta and Elizabeth Murphy also made big contributions for the Trojans.
The host Falcons (4-10) captured the consolation championship of their own tourney, as senior guard Sara Abdul earned all-tournament recognition.